Steven A Smith doesn’t trust Darrin Petterson over Kansas absences
recently, Kansas basketball guard Darrin Peterson raised eyebrows when he checked out of the team’s road win over Oklahoma State on Wednesday night. This move came just a few days later Peterson was removed from the second game during warmups due to an illness, raising big questions about what his availability might look like at the NBA level.
Peterson is considered one of the most talented players in the upcoming 2026 NBA draft class, but more recently, a sports media personality Stephen A. Smith went on ESPN to share why not draw Peterson if he had the number one pick.
“There’s no team in hell that should grab Darin Peterson No. 1. You can’t do that. The first ability is availability … And these games he’s missing, cramps? The flu … I can’t trust him. You can’t be trusted,” Smith said on First Take, according to Awful Announcing on X, formerly Twitter.
Indeed, availability concerns have started to become a major concern for Peterson, who is widely viewed as the top point guard in the upcoming draft. There’s no denying Peterson’s ability to produce when he’s on the floor, as the Kansas point guard boasts an elite combination of outside shooting, explosive athleticism and defensive instincts that make him the ideal floor general for the modern NBA.
However, he has plenty of competition for the number one spot in the upcoming draft, primarily in the form of Duke forward Cameron Boozer, son of former NBA player Carlos Boozer, as well as BIU wing AJ Dibants.
In a league where load management continues to be a growing issue, it’s certainly possible that a team that would otherwise draft Peterson first overall could see his availability issues as too big of a problem to ignore.
In any case, the NBA draft is scheduled for the end of June.
2026-02-19 16:53:00
